The UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has proposed new price control settlements for five of six electricity network operators, aimed to spur investment in network upgrades and help lower energy bills.

Effective from April 2015 and running until 2023, the proposals will enable the five companies, which transport energy into homes and businesses, to invest £17bn to upgrade and maintain Britain’s local electricity network.

The five companies, include UK Power Networks, Northern Power Grid, SP Energy Networks, SSE Power Distribution and Electricity North West, were selected since they failed to deliver enough value for customers.

Western Power Distribution was the only company to have its price control agreed in 2013 by the regulator.

Since then, a total of £2.1bn was cut from the business plans.

Companies have also identified £700m of savings and Ofgem cancelled a further £1.4bn following cost analysis.

Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan said: “This is the only part of the energy bill Ofgem directly controls and our plans today will deliver better customer service and efficient investment at a lower cost for the customer.

“Today’s announcement is all part of Ofgem’s consistent drive to get the best deal for consumers while maintaining a stable regulatory regime, which attracts investment as cheaply as possible.

“During the course of the price control there is expected to be an increased take-up of low-carbon technologies, including heat pumps, solar panels and small-scale renewable generation.

“Ofgem’s regulation focuses companies’ attention on connecting these low carbon technologies in a timely and cost effective way, using smart solutions where appropriate.”

The proposals are under consultation for the next eight weeks and the final decisions will be unveiled in November 2014.

In addition to requiring efficient investment, the companies will improve customer service and will enable new customers, such as businesses, new renewable generation and housing developments, to get connected to the network faster.

The recent threat to European energy security posed by the Ukrainian crisis has led to an increased focus on securing energy independence in the bloc, with geothermal power being one such technology under the microscope.

Geothermal district heating (GeoDH) is one of the solutions being touted as a valuable and immediate option for the alleviation of Central and Eastern Europe‘s dependency on Russian gas, while the rest of Europe is in various states of readiness for development of the power.

Over 25 % of the EU population lives in areas directly suitable for GeoDH, yet the significant potential of deep geothermal is not yet being fully exploited in Europe. The work of GEODH, a project funded under the European Commission’s Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE), may help to change this.

GEODH has recently presented for the first time the potential of geothermal district heating in Europe on an interactive map.

The map, based on research undertaken by the GEODH team, reveals some interesting findings. For example, we see that GeoDH can be developed in all 28 EU countries and that geothermal can be installed with existing DH systems during extension or renovation, replacing fossil fuels.

Additionally, new GeoDH systems can be built in many regions of Europe at competitive costs. The map also shows that the Pannonian basin (Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Serbia) is a place of particular interest when looking at potential development in Central Europe.

Geothermal heating and cooling brings many advantages: not only does it provide local, baseload and flexible renewable energy, it also allows for a diversification of the energy mix, and protection against volatile and rising fossil fuels prices.

That’s why the GEODH project team is working to achieve increased awareness on the potential applications and benefits of DH&C with geothermal energy. The interactive map is just one aspect of consortium’s activities. The team is working to develop a set of recommendations for removing barriers and improving regulatory frameworks. They are also nurturing a better understanding of GeoDH related technologies, costs and financing, and aim to transfer best practices to national and local authorities.

The challenges to expanding the potential of GeoDH differ from country to country. In Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the challenge is to remove administrative and financial barriers while in Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovenia, there is both the need to convince decision makers and to adopt the right regulatory framework.

Germany, France and Italy meanwhile need to simplify procedures and provide more financing in order to achieve the bold GeoDH targets that they have already set out. Finally, the ‘juvenile’ markets of Netherlands, UK, Ireland and Denmark are currently developing their first systems and there is a need to establish the correct market conditions.

The GEODH consortium is working with these different groups (juvenile, in transition and mature markets) which cover 14 countries covered in total.

David Cameron’s planned subsidy cuts for U.K. wind power are unsettling the investors the prime minister needs to fund infrastructure of all kinds, the company developing one of the nation’s biggest wind farms said.

B.Grimm Power, a power producer in Thailand, has signed an agreement to acquire two power plants from Sime Darby Energy (SDEPL), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Sime Darby Bhd, for a total consideration of MYR522.9m ($162.9m).

Under the terms of the deal, Sime Darby indirect subsidiary Sime Darby Energy Pte (SDE) is divesting all of its shares in Sime Darby Power Company (SDPC), Sime Darby LCP Power Company (SDLP) and Sime Darby O&M (Thailand) Company (SOMT).

Sime Darby president and group chief executive Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd Bakke Salleh said, “The decision to dispose the power business in Thailand is in tandem with Sime Darby’s long-term business strategy to consolidate and focus our attention on our core businesses.”

Located in Laem Chabang Industrial Estate in Chonburi province Thailand, the two gas-fired combined-cycle cogeneration plants have a combined capacity of 163MW and steam capacity of 70t/h.

The power plants, with a strong customer base for electricity and steam, are the sole provider of power and steam generation in the industrial estate.

B.Grimm and B.Grimm Power chairman Harald Link said that the acquisition of the two plants is associated with B.Grimm Power’s strategy to grow its small power producer cogeneration business.

The acquisition is considered as a strategic path to expand B.Grimm Power generating capacity and reach the aim of installed capacity above 2,000MW within 2019.

B.Grimm Power President Preeyanart Soontornwata said B.Grimm Power will enhance its total revenue in 2014 from approximately 19,000 million Bahts to 23,200 million Baht following completion of the acquisition.

The Narmada Control Authority has approved plans to raise the dam wall of India’s 1,450-MW Sardar Sarovar hydropower project from 400 feet to about 455 feet.

NCA said the height increase will further the project’s ability to meet the irrigation demands of India’s arid Gujarat state.

The project cost an estimated US$7.7 billion when it was completed in 2007 following a construction process that lasted nearly two decades.

Sardar Sarovar is the centerpiece of the multi-billion-dollar Narmada Valley development project that taps the Narmada, India’s fifth-largest river, through a series of dams, reservoirs, and canals. Sardar Sarovar has a main powerhouse with six 200-MW reversible Francis units. Another powerhouse, with five 50-MW Kaplan turbines, is supplied with water from the giant canal system.

At the time of its completion, authorities said the dam would connect an 86,000-kilometer network of canals, help irrigate 1.8 million hectares of farmland, and provide drinking water to 20 million people in Gujarat and neighboring states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The dam also will help control floods, while its two power plants generate peaking power.

HydroWorld.com reported that developer Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Lttd. (SSNNL) commissioned the last of the plant’s 11 turbine units in July 2008.

Alstom delivered its e-terra energy market management solutions on time for Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) day-ahead and real-time integrated marketplace. The new market system combines 16 separate energy entities (consisting of investor-owned utilities, public power, municipalities and electric cooperatives) in the southwestern region of the U.S., into one.

These entities manage energy resources, and ensure that there is sufficient power generation at any time to reliably supply electricity. The new system is expected to realize up to $100 million in annual net benefits.

SPP is a regional transmission organization (RTO) that operates the power grid in nine states, serving 15 million customers in the southwestern region of the U.S. Its new marketplace will optimize energy reserve sharing, providing member utilities access to more diverse power generation resources. It will also facilitate the reliable integration of the region’s vast renewable resources, including 90 GW of potential wind generation.

Signed in May 2011, Alstom deployed its e-terra 3.0 suite of applications with market operations and settlements technology, to solve complex energy scheduling and massive financial calculations with minimal resources. The same software is already used in other regional US markets to handle over 1,000 terawatt hours and $40 billion of energy transactions per year.

The project also included an upgrade of Alstom’s network modeling and energy management systems, helping SPP to better manage reliability and outages across the region.

Siemens has made a leap forward in its SPPA-T3000 Instrumentation and Control room technology as announced at POWER-GEN Europe in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday.

Hans-Christian Ostertag, Siemens Energy’s Head of Market Requirements delivered a presentation on the advance in control room technology at the event, which he explained was primarily motivated by the question, “How can a control system boost operator efficiency?”“Information handling and decision making to prevent maloperation and to enable fast and sound troubleshooting are the key to further increase availability and profitability of power generation. It is the core responsibility of the operator in the control room to ensure availability and profitability of a power plant,” Ostertag said.

He explained to the audience three innovations that backbone the new SPPA-T3000 control system, including a new graphical user interface, new intelligent alarm handling and a new concept for central control rooms.

The newly designed user interface offers enhanced, optimized operating efficiency. So-called “trip stop” buttons provide the user with distinct instructions on how to react to faults that occur in the power plant. A fresh harmonization concept enables control of remote power plants from one single, central control room.

The key consideration for the layout and design of the new SPPA-T3000 user interface was to ensure that the operator can intuitively react reliably and correctly in any situation. Vital criteria for this included prioritization, individualization and ergonomics.

Meanwhile innovative intelligent alarm handling in the guise of two “trip stop” buttons were also developed as a new alarm class for SPPA-T3000. These buttons are integrated in the alarm line for the new user interface and enable the operator to react quickly, appropriately and reliably in critical situations. The “trip warning” button is used to evaluate trip-relevant scenarios and generate warning messages to which the operator must give special attention to avoid unwanted shut-downs.

The “trip stop” button can also be used in situations in which a sudden fault re-quires an immediate reaction. This button provides brief, pre-defined instructions on actions to take to avoid unwanted shutdowns, along with an associated user window that the operator can use to help bring the critical situation quickly under control.

Meanwhile new concept in fleet control allows the operator master various plants from one central control room.

The need for central control rooms has arisen as a result of demographic and economic developments. Central control rooms must be capable of operating an entire fleet comprising various power plant installations with dissimilar instrumentation and control systems as if the control room were on hand at each power plant site. Siemens deploys its SPPA-T3000 control system for this purpose in a multiple unit configuration, operators in the central control room have a secure handle on the entire fleet at all times, as if they were actually at site, thanks to the system’s uniform operating and signalling philosophy.

“In the advanced development of SPPA-T3000 besides our own innovations the experience and practical needs of customers were integrated”, stresses Dieter Fluck, head of Product Management in the Siemens Energy Instrumentation, Controls & Electrical business unit. “Our central control room concept contributes to a substantial reduction in operating costs and, thus, to more competitiveness of our customers.”

“All of these innovations are focused on the operator. His efficiency is the key to success,” concluded Ostertag.

The Energy Commission of Malaysia has selected a consortium comprising SIPP Energy (SIPP), YTL Power International (YTL) and Tenaga Nasional (TNB) for the construction of a combined cycle power plant (CCGT) in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

Under the contract, the consortium will develop the fast-track CCGT with a capacity of 1,000MW – 1,400MW in Pasir Gudang, Johor, using proven technology.

The plant must be constructed on the condition that the technical and commercial proposals are acceptable to the Energy Commission.

Additionally, the levelised tariff, which could be considered competitive, has to be comparable to the Prai CCGT tender exercise concluded in 2012.

Since 2010, in consultation with the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water selected three procurement methods aimed to secure new generation capacity to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

The three methods include direct award, restricted bidding and open bidding exercises.

The EC has made the conditional offer after its decision that there was a requirement to fast-track plant construction for operational in 2020 to an earlier date in 2018.

In addition to using only proven gas turbine (GT) technology to ensure all GT manufacturers could participate in the tender, the commission would evaluate the EPC tender.

WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada The Yukon government has released a planning directive that calls for the comprehensive investigation of new large-scale hydroelectric power projects in the northwestern territory.

A community energy centre in northern England is expected to reduce the carbon emissions of an 1,800-home estate by up to 35%.
The gas-fired combine heat and power system will provide the Scotswood housing project in Newcastle with heating and hot water when complete.
The CHP facility is located on the site of an old abattoir and will eventually supply all 1,800 homes at The Rise, where the first properties went on sale last month.The 66-hectare site overlooking the River Tyne is the largest single site housing-led regeneration scheme in the North of England.
It is being delivered by New Tyne West Development Company – a joint partnership between Newcastle City Council and developers Barratt Homes and Keepmoat.
Over the next 15 years, £265 million will be invested in the site.
Duncan Bowman, development director at NTWDC, said: “This is a really exciting project for us. An energy centre serving a site of this scale will be the first of its kind in the north. This particular aspect of the redevelopment of Scotswood has been a long time in the planning and it is thanks to the commitment of NTWDC and E.ON that it has come to fruition.
Once 600 homes are completed and connected the energy centre will become a combined heat and power plant, meaning Scotswood will have its own neighbourhood electricity generating facility.